Ten methods you’ll be able to mitigate rising petrol costs as Iran battle threatens to ship gas payments rocketing

The nation’s motorists have been warned to brace themselves for rocketing petrol prices as the conflict in the Middle East is set to send fuel bills soaring.

The price of crude oil surged to more than $100 a barrel on Monday, breaching the threshold for the first time since the outbreak of the Ukraine war four years ago. Oil had spent most of the year around the $60 to $70 a barrel mark before the first attacks on Iran.

The jump in the cost of oil had already prompted a near 5p a litre increase in average UK unleaded prices and almost 9p for diesel after the first week of conflict.

Simon Williams, the head of policy at the RAC, said unleaded is ‘almost certainly’ going to reach an average of 140p in the next week, while diesel looks ‘highly likely’ to climb to at least 160p a litre.

Officials and economists say it could get much worst. Qatar’s energy minister last week suggested the price of a barrel could surpass $150.

If that is the case, drivers are likely to see forecourt prices accelerate to a record high, above the 191.5p for petrol and 199p for diesel posted in July 2022.

The AA on Monday urged Britons to ‘consider cutting out some non-essential journeys to conserve fuel’.

But there are a number of changes and adjustments motorists can make to lower their fuel use without hanging up the car keys. Here’s our 10 best recommendations to cut your petrol costs. 

With drivers growing increasingly concerned about the war’s strain on their own finances, Daily Mail and This is Money has compiled its ten best ‘hypermiling’ techniques to mitigate spiralling fuel prices.

This is the name given to a series of energy efficient measures motorists can put into practice to reduce their petrol and diesel (or electricity if you own an EV) use.

When the AA asked 50 of its staff to use hypermiling techniques in a trial a few years ago, they saved an average of 10 per cent on their weekly fuel bills. The best saw a reduction of a third.

However, among the AA’s tips includes walking and cycling more, which might not be an option for those living in rural areas or reliant on their cars for most journeys. 

Instead, here’s our ten best hypermiling tips that will ultimately save you money without having to drive less…

1. Fill up with the cheapest fuel

Both the RAC and AA have called on motorists to not change their refuelling habits amid growing concerns that drivers will panic buy petrol and diesel while still at relatively low prices this week. 

But there is one refuelling habit that is worth considering adopting – shopping around for the cheapest prices, if you don’t already do so, of course.

While motorists for years have had access to a variety of fuel pricing websites and smartphone applications, issues around the regularity of updates and reliable user information has made them patchy at best.

But that all changed last month when the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced the Fuel Finder Scheme.

This legally requires every filling station to share changes to their prices within half an hour of making them. Rachel Reeves said access to the live data should save the average household £40 a year.

Companies like PetrolPrices.com are already using the data, updating their systems with real-time pricing and alerts to inform you where’s the cheapest location to fill up.

Drivers simply need to search for their location and it will show which retailers in the vicinity are charging the least per litre. 

2. Ensure your car is in optimum mechanical order

Sometimes you must speculate to accumulate. And that’s very much the case with ensuring your vehicle is running as economically and efficiently as it should. 

Those with cars that haven’t been serviced for over a year should consider getting it booked in.

Common issues such as sticking brakes, ageing tyres, faulty sensors, old – or wrong – oil and general poor engine maintenance can have a significant detrimental impact on your motor’s optimum miles per gallon (mpg) performance.

And there are some fuel-saving adjustments you can make without having to take your car to a garage at all.  

One of the easiest is ensuring tyre pressures are at the correct level. Underinflated tyres are estimated to impact a car’s fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent. 

Check the car’s owner’s manual to find out what the optimum pressures are. Most models also have tyre pressure information on a sticker on the driver’s door sill – while modern cars might also display the pressure in the instrument cluster. 

3. Lighten your car’s load

While this isn’t going to make the biggest difference to your mpg figures, emptying clutter from your car will fractionally improve its fuel economy.

If you’re someone who drives around with a boot full of items you barely use, now is the prime time to have a spring clear out to save yourself a few pennies at the pumps.

But decluttering a car isn’t just about reducing weight – it’s also a case of improving aerodynamic performance. 

The latter is especially true for families who have recently returned from half-term trips and haven’t yet bothered to remove a roof box. 

According to the Energy Saving Trust, an empty roof box adds 39 per cent drag to a car when driving at 75mph. A roof rack can add 16 per cent. If you’ve not taken them off yet, you might want to sooner rather than later.

4. Embrace the challenge of becoming an eco driver

For many motorists, being the ‘best’ driver typically means being the safest or reaching destinations in the fastest time feasible. 

But when fuel prices rocket, people should embrace a new driving challenge – becoming the most efficient eco motorist they know.

With most modern cars displaying a metre on the driver’s instrument cluster showing a journey’s average mpg figure, motorists should be tasking themselves with pushing that reading as high as possible.

Smooth and steady acceleration – rather than stomping on the throttle – will have the biggest impact on lifting the fuel economy figure.

Though don’t overlook the importance of slowing down more gradually too, which is a greater challenge within itself.

This is because it requires a driver to anticipate traffic flow ahead, such as perfecting approaching queues at traffic lights and junctions by releasing the accelerator earlier and using the brake pedal as little as possible without needing to come to a standstill.

5. Use the highest gear possible (in a manual car)

The RAC says one secret to bolster a car’s mpg figure – granted it has a manual transmission – is driving in the highest possible gear. 

‘The best advice in urban areas is to change up through the gears as quickly as you can with the lowest revs possible, probably at around 2000rpm,’ it says. 

Drivers should also pay close attention to the gear shift indicator, which is a fitment on all new models sold after 2014.

These are often tuned for the most economical driving rather than outright performance, so if it prompts you to move into a different gear, you should shift straight away.

6. Stick to the limit

Running late for an appointment. Worried about not getting to work on time. Or want to get home as soon as possible to catch your favourite TV drama or the kick off for the big match. These are just some examples of excuses used for driving slightly over the speed limit.

But going faster – even marginally – does result in higher fuel consumption.

Drive at 70mph and you’ll use up to 9 per cent more than at 60mph and up to 15 per cent more than at 50mph, says the AA. 

And taking it up to 80mph can use up to 25 per cent more fuel than at 70mph.

7. Use your car’s ‘eco’ mode and turn on ‘stop-start’

Many modern motors are now fitted with adaptive driving modes which, at the press of a button, change the performance characteristics of the car.

‘Eco’ is typically one of them, which generally softens the acceleration curve, meaning you gain speed less quickly than normal, even if you’re heavy on the throttle pedal. 

If your vehicle does have ‘eco’ as one of the adjustable driving settings, then use it because it will conserve fuel in the tank.

Some also have an ‘individual’ mode, which allows a user to tailor different elements of the driving behaviour, such as acceleration, suspension stiffness and brake response. Again, consider selecting the most efficient of each individual setting to improve mpg. 

Another system to make sure you have turned on is the automatic ‘stop-start’ – a feature found in almost every petrol and diesel car made in the last two decades.

This automatically turns off the engine when the vehicle comes to a standstill in traffic to conserve fuel. But many drivers finds it irritating and intrusive – and turn it off.

But, used correctly, stop-start really can reduce your petrol consumption. 

The RAC says it is especially effective if stationary for 10 seconds or more.

The average family car can use up to half a gallon of fuel per hour when left idling – enough to travel around 25 miles.

8. Turn OFF cruise control

While eco driving modes and stop-start are vehicle features we recommend turning on if you’re actively looking to reduce your fuel bills, cruise control is one we urge drivers to turn off.

Cruise control is most likely to benefit mpg when roads are completely flat.

However, even on motorways, encountering even a mild hill will means the system will become less efficient than a human.

This is because cruise control is slower to react to gradient changes, meaning when reaching the brow of a hill – at which point you would normally take your foot off the accelerator to maintain more of a constant speed when descending – cruise control will keep the power on for a little longer. 

‘Driving in this way regularly would lead to worse fuel consumption,’ says the RAC. 

9. Avoid using the air-con and heater

Using electrically powered features in a car is an additional strain on the battery and therefore will increase the work the engine needs to do.

So, given the cooler temperatures we’re seeing currently, consider wearing a thicker jumper rather than turning on the car’s heater. Doing so could improve fuel consumption – even on shorter journeys – by as much as 10 per cent.

The same can be said about switching on air conditioning if you’re too hot, meaning removing a layer of clothing will be better for your bank balance than a blast of cool air.

And if you are too warm and want a gust of breeze, driving with a window down has an impact on mpg too.

Lowering the window fully has a similar detrimental impact on drag efficiency as a roof rack, so keep them wound up, especially when travelling at motorway speeds.

10. Run multiple errands in a single journey

An engine’s optimum efficiency level is reached when it’s warm.

So, if you have several errands to run during the week, try to combine as many into one car journey to avoid turning the ignition on your fuel bills.

There is also a climate benefit when driving in summer months over winter. 

The AA says warmer temperatures should improve mpg ‘significantly’ with an extra three miles to the gallon ‘almost guaranteed for most’ in the summer.